Alan Bennett robbed of £1,500 in cash while shopping at M&S

Monday 14 June 2010 10:38 BST

Two women pickpockets stole £1,500 from Alan Bennett as he shopped in his local Marks & Spencer store.

The playwright, best known for works such as Talking Heads, The Madness of George III and The History Boys, had just withdrawn the money from a branch of Lloyds before heading to M&S in Camden High Street.

He was probably followed there by two women who splattered his raincoat with ice cream and then stole his wallet as they pretended to wipe the coat clean.

The 76-year-old, who lives in Camden, was with his long-term partner Rupert Thomas, 43, editor of World of Interiors magazine.

Onlookers described him as "red- faced and flustered" when he returned to the bank to be interviewed by police on Friday lunchtime.

A Lloyds clerk, who asked not to be named, said: "I served him. He came back into the bank after being mugged, and said there had been two women who told him he had ice cream on his back. They started patting him down to try to get it off. That's when it must have happened. It's really awful. Poor man. The police brought him in here afterwards, where he gave details of the incident."

Police are examining CCTV footage in the M&S store. A member of staff there said: "He wasn't hurt, but he had £1,500 on him. He seemed all right, but was pretty annoyed about it all. It's an appalling state of affairs when an old man can't go shopping without being robbed."

Speaking of the attack, Bennett said: "Oh, most upsetting. But I shall be writing about it in my diary."

Scotland Yard said : "We can confirm that detectives from Camden Robbery Squad are investigating an allegation of robbery."

Distraction robberies have soared in recent years in London. Many of the attacks are carried by organised gangs of robbers from Eastern Europe.